Machining the Alloy

The finished plates. These will carry the swingarm and provide the mounting points for the rear subframe

Mick was part of the Devimead Ducati team that took Steve Hislop to the British Superbike title in 1995

It is probably no coincidence that evryone involved with the Enigma 1050 project, with the exception of Margaret Lindsay, has raced motorcycles at one time or another.

Gifted metalworker Mick Edwards, owner of ProMach, is no different. He raced extensively in the 70s and 80s on a variety of bikes and it was his involvement in racing that led to the formation of his business, Promach.

An engineer by trade and still drawn to racing after he had stopped competing himself, Mick’s skills as a race technician were recognised by Midlands outfit, Devimead Ducati who happend to have as their rider one Steve Hislop.

In 1995, working alongside chief technician Martin Bennett, who later found employment with both Suzuki World Superbike and Suzuki Moto GP teams, Mick spent his weekends looking after Hislop’s Ducati.

As well as the usual duties of a race technician, Mick also started making one off parts for the race bikes. The ’95 season was a triumph for the Devimead team with Hizzy taking his first British Superbike chanpionship on a bike which was fast and reliable.

But all things come to an end and when the Devimead team disbanded, Mick, encouraged by growing interest from other teams, decided to invest in his own skills and set up a CNC machine shop to produce the bespoke parts that race teams and bike builders need.

Devimead moved out of the Leicestershire workshops at Willow Park, Stoke Golding. ProMach moved in and have been there ever since.

Since those early days ProMach has built up a reputation as a top class specialist engineers in the design and manufacture of prototype parts supplying the British Superbike industry, sponsor to the Yamaha Superbike Team and the R6 cup. ProMach also produce a range of footrest assemblies for most popular sport bikes.

At one time Mick had three people working for him full time. However, much like Dave Pearce, he has chosen to scale down his operation and concentrate on the projects that catch his imagination. Nowadays he works mostly alone with occasional help from a part time assistant.

Mick was brought into the project early on at the recommendation of K-Tech’s Chris Taylor. It was a master stroke.Mick instantly became a key member of the team, working closely with Dave Pearce to produce the machined alloy components for the chassis.

All of the one-off alloy components on Enigma 1050 will come from the ProMach workshop.

Mick’s enthusiasm for the bike is huge and he already has a number of ideas for future projects that he would like the team to undertake after we have completed the Enigma 1050 prototype. We are fortunate to have him on board. His experience as a hands on engineer is a valuable resource for the project.

Like project leader, Jim Lindsay, Mick still rides on the road. He uses a Suzuki SV650 which he reckons is the ideal tool for the lanes around his Leicestershire home.

Enigma 1050 – a very British motorcycle being built in Hampshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Shropshire and Cambridgeshire.